Youth Exchanges

Youth exchanges are opportunities to travel abroad that allow young people from different countries to meet, live together and work on common projects for short periods.
Exchanges take place outside the school environment both because of the innovative ways of learning that go beyond the classic face-to-face approach and because it is not bound by any one institution or school. Activities include workshops, exercises, discussions, role-playing, outdoor activities and more.
During a youth exchange, participants jointly complete a program of work (a combination of workshops, exercises, debates, role-plays, simulations, outdoor activities, etc.) designed and prepared by themselves.

What you can do?

Youth Exchanges enable young people to: develop skills; learn about socially relevant topics/topics; discover new cultures, habits and lifestyles, especially through peer learning; and reinforce values such as solidarity, democracy, friendship, etc. The learning process in Youth Exchanges is determined by non-formal education methods. Youth Exchanges are based on transnational cooperation between two or more participating organizations from different countries within and outside the European Union.

What are the topics?

Each exchange has a main theme, and they are cross-cutting and numerous such as interculturalism, combating social exclusion, racism and sexism, promoting environmental and social sustainability and active citizenship in a European and international dimension, art, music, theater, disabilities, youth entrepreneurship, startups and innovation, emotion and conflict management, sustainable development, use of media and media, empowerment and teamwork, democracy and social inclusion, and many more. The choice is vast and the opportunities are countless.

Duration

These are short-term projects of a minimum of 5 days to a maximum of 21 days and can take place at any time of the year, even several times a year
Sometimes it may happen that before an exchange there is an:
Advanced Preparatory Visit (APV): this is a meeting in the country that will host the exchange, on average 2-3 days long, in which the leaders of each country group along with one participant per country meet to get to know each other, to decide how to develop the exchange, talking about the activities, the program, the choice of participants and in general, all the important aspects for the success of the project.
Those who participate in the VPA also participate in the exchange.
The economic conditions are the same as for an exchange.

Who can attend?

Each participant travels in a group, and these are the characteristics and target of the exchanges:

• Youth between the ages of 13-30 years
• Minimum of 4 participants per group (group leader/s not included).
• Presence of a group leader

Each national group must have at least one leader. A group leader is an adult, and therefore has no age limit, who accompanies youth exchange participants to ensure their effective learning, protection and safety.

Where do they take place?

The activity must take place in the country of one of the participating organizations.

How to participate?

Participants can participate in exchanges through the organizations or associations promoting the exchanges. Exchanges can also be proposed by informal groups of young people.

What are the costs?

Participants are reimbursed part of their travel costs, from their place of origin to the activity site and back, based on travel distances.
Food and lodging are covered by the project.

Certifications and Youthpass

Each participant is entitled to receive a "Youthpass" certificate, which describes and validates the nonformal and informal learning experience and outcomes acquired during the project (learning outcomes).